Quick Facts
- State
- Indiana
- County
- Martin County
- Status
- Foundations Only
- Access
- Public Access
- Coordinates
- Not recorded
Some ghost towns feel like museums. Hindostan feels like an interruption — a place that stopped mid-sentence. A foundations-only ghost town in Martin County, Indiana.
Indiana's ghost towns are canal towns, coal camps, and railroad stops the interstates finished off.
Martin County holds 2 documented ghost towns, including Hindostan Falls — Hindostan keeps them company on the map.
The story of Hindostan
Canals and railroads made the Midwest's towns, and then made most of them unnecessary. Hindostan likely sits on one of those earlier transportation grids in Martin County — a canal town bypassed by the railroad, or a railroad town bypassed by the highway. The region's extractive chapters — lead, coal, iron, lumber, even oil in places — each built their own string of company towns and boom camps. When the vein ran out or the mill closed, there was usually farmland to fall back on, which is why the Midwest has fewer stark ruins and more quiet fade-outs: a town that shrinks to a crossroads, then to a name on an old plat map.
What you'll find today
Little stands at Hindostan today beyond foundations and scattered traces. Foundation-only sites reward visitors who enjoy reading a landscape — bring an old plat map or historic photo if you can find one, and the vanished streets start to reappear.
Public access makes Hindostan one of the easier ghost towns to actually stand in — though "public" in ghost-town country can still mean miles of dirt road, so check recent trip reports first.
Getting there
Hindostan is publicly accessible — but give the word "accessible" some respect. Out here it can still mean miles of unmaintained dirt road. Check recent trip reports, carry extra water and a spare tire, download offline maps, and let someone know your route.
Good to know
Ghost-town etiquette is simple: take only photographs. Removing artifacts is illegal on public lands and disrespectful everywhere else — and on federal land it can be a serious offense.
The ground itself demands respect: open mine shafts, collapsing floors, and old wells hide in tall grass, cell service is often nonexistent, and help can be hours away. Tell someone your plans, pack more water than you think you'll need — and save the early morning or late afternoon light for your camera.
Dig deeper
Hindostan rewards the extra homework. County archives, historic newspaper collections, and the state historical society are the next stops after this guide — plat maps, census rolls, and old photographs fill in what a short visit can't. If you make the trip, consider sharing your photos and notes: firsthand reports are how the record of Hindostan gets better.